A cheetah cub stands in the dappled sunlight of a forest, mouth wide open in a yawn. Partially hidden by greenery, it offers a fleeting glimpse of its beautifully spotted coat amidst blurred branches.
A young cheetah cub crouches in the tall grass, its keen eyes fixed on a piece of red meat. The background blurs into a mix of dry foliage and sunlit blades, perfectly framing the cub's intense expression and beautifully spotted coat.
A cheetah lounging in tall, dry grass is surrounded by six playful cubs, each displaying varying poses of curiosity and rest. The sunlit savannah landscape beautifully highlights the spots of these graceful creatures.

A Cheetah’s Pride

Nature & Wildlife·3 x 50 min·Completed

Witness a wildlife first: two cheetah mothers unite to raise nine cubs in South Africa’s Karoo, overcoming danger, loss, and the odds to survive.

Factsheet

You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More Information
Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content
Genre
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
3 × 50 min
Definition
4K
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
Back to all projects

Synopsis

A never-seen-before wildlife phenomenon is happening in the Samara Karoo Reserve on the plains of South Africa’s semi-desert wilderness: the appearance of an extraordinary cheetah family: Two mothers, with nine cubs!

In June, 2020, two cheetah mothers met by chance. One is an experienced mother and effective huntress with five cubs. The other mother has four cubs, but she’s younger and hindered by a blind eye, but affectionate and patient. After the initial meeting, the cubs become mixed up, resulting in one mother adopting the other’s cubs as her own. Stranger still; the mothers meet again and, instead of going their separate ways, stay together. Female cheetahs are solitary, this hybrid-family is a world first.

The family would go on to endure what can only be described as a wildlife soap opera. They face the many dangers of the African bush, endure starvation and injury, overcome abandonment and loss, cubs rise to insurmountable challenges and look out for one another. One mother struggles while the other succeeds, but they need each other if they’re to keep all nine cubs alive.

Team

Filmed and directed by Hansa Winshaw
Executive producers Andrea Gastgeb, Sabine Holzer
Production companies A co-production of Terra Mater Studios and African Film Company in association with Samara Karoo Reserve

Awards & Recognitions

Lihula, Estonia MAFF - Matsalu Nature Film Festival Special Mention Episode 02 (Category: Nature) 2024
Rotterdam, Netherlands WFFR - Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam Official Selection Episode 01 2024
Rotterdam, Netherlands WFFR - Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam Official Selection Episode 02 2024
Rotterdam, Netherlands WFFR - Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam Official Selection Episode 03 2024
Distributor

Talk to our Distributor

Interested in licensing and watching the full production? Contact our distributor here.

Get in touch
Footage rights

Licensing & Usage

Interested in licensing or footage usage?
Contact us directly.

Get in touch

In the same Genre